Boys Don't Scry
}} The Order figures out how to scry on Durkon. Cast * The Order of the Stick ** Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶ ** Elan ◀ ▶ ** Haley Starshine ◀ ▶ ** Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶ ** Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶ ** Durkon Thundershield (as vampire) ◀ ▶ * Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶ * Blackwing ◀ ▶ * Hilgya Firehelm ◀ ▶ * Minrah Shaleshoe ◀ ▶ * Kudzu ◀ ▶ Transcript Hilgya: So, where are we heading, exactly? Roy: Well, uh, we're not really sure. Belkar: We tend to play this stuff by ear a lot. Roy: We know that Durkon has a plan to influence the Council of Clans to vote for... a thing that's kind of a big deal. Roy: We were going to head over to the chamber where they hold that vote and kind of look around a bit. Hilgya: That's it? That's your plan? Roy: I hear what your saying, but you have to understand it's been a shockingly effective strategy for us in the past. Hilgya: That's silly. If you don't know where someone is, you cast a spell to locate them. Belkar: Says the chick who needed her god to personally tell her where the same guy we're looking for now was. Hilgya: Hey, don't think I didn't try that. The scrying spell is resisted by the subject's subconscious mind. Hilgya: Durkon's uptight rule-worshipping little brain is apparently perfectly capable of keeping me from getting a fix on him. Hilgya: But! I can increase the spell's potency a whole lot by channeling it through a part of his body. Roy: Unless he exchanged kidneys with one of use in lieu of a BFF necklace, I doubt that will help. Hilgya: It doesn't have to be, like, an organ. Hair will do, or toenail clippings. Roy: Damn, I trimmed a few inches off his beard when we fought. I should have grabbed some. Belkar: I'm really glad that never occurred to you. Vaarsuvius: Actually... I believe Miss Starshine likely possesses an appropriate bodily fluid. Hilgya: Oh, I should have known. He just couldn't keep it in his pants, could he? Even with his co-workers. Haley: What?! No! And also, ewww. I don't— Vaarsuvius: Allow me to explain before this conversation degrades further into sitcom-level farce. Flashback to the Mechane Vaarsuvius (inset): She was the final member of our group to allow herself to be bitten by the vampire before we arrived at Zenith Peak. Vaarsuvius (inset): As a result, her body has the greatest chance of containing whatever necrotic substance serves as the vampire's saliva within her bloodstream. Cut back to Firmament Vaarsuvius: Therefore, she has a reasonable likelihood of serving as a viable channeling medium for the spell's energy. Haley: That's brilliant, V! Completely gross, but brilliant! Hilgya: Worth a shot, I guess. Better than just wandering around hoping to stumble on a clue. Roy: OK, but let's be clear that there would have been a better than even chance of a villain bursting in on us the other way, too. Elan: It's just like the bardic philosophers say: Narrative abhors a vacuum! D&D Context * Scrying is a 5th level cleric spell which allows the caster to see people remotely. Trivia * In the final panel, Elan makes a pun on the physical concept of Horror vacui, "nature abhors a vacuum", first postulated by Aristotle, and debated by several Enlightenment-era philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians. * The title is a pun on the fairly common expression, "Boys Don't Cry." In popular culture that title has been used as the title of both a 1999 film starring Hilary Swank and Chloë Sevigny and a 1980 album and song by The Cure. * This is the first time all six members of the Order of the Stick have appeared in the same strip (albeit via flashback) in over 100 strips, since #993. External Links * 1108}} View the comic * 545954}} View the discussion thread